SKA - Sibir. Match day

Today on the 15th of January, SKA will play their third match of this KHL home series against HC Sibir Novosibirsk.

Over the past couple of seasons, Sibir have become a real fans favourite in the KHL, winning hearts with their determined attitude and exciting style of play. Their best achievement to date was making the 2014/2015 Eastern Conference final, while last season they made the Gagarin Cup playoffs second round. However, this time around, they are struggling just to make the post-season. Rocked by the long term injury to goalkeeper Alexander Salak, the Siberians have had a hard job taking points, currently occupying a lowly tenth place of the conference. In a bid to upturn their fortunes, Sibir signed goaltenders Danny Taylor and Ivan Nalimov, but so far, they have not had the desired effect.

Nevertheless, when playing at their best, Sibir are a hard match for any side. Their top line of Sergei Shumakov and Maxim Shalunov owns a combined 68 points (34+34), while they boast the likes of Zach Boychuk and Adam Polasek on their roster. They lost their previous match to CSKA Moscow 1:2 away.

SKA have regained top form, earning four consecutive wins. The victory on Friday was particularly impressive, a 9:1 thrashing of Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeny Dadonov picked up eight points in that match.

These two teams have already met this season, with SKA winning 2:1 OT in Novosibirsk.

The SKA - Sibir match will begin at 17.00 local time inside the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Life78 and KHL TV will broadcast live, and you can follow events live on our official Twitter account.